My Estate up for sale

[davidw6092]

As the builder of the estste in question I think its maybe my time to put my side forward.Joe put a wanted ad on the forum.I replied stating that I had an estate that I was going to refurbish and sell was he interested?He came to my workshop,saw the car in its stored state and we agreed
a price of about 5 ish.Later he came back to me and asked could it have a full respray rather than just the originally inted bottom half.I agrred to do this,which obviously means glass out,gutter trims off and doors stripped.Later he came back,could I do the engine bay as well?I quoted another 600 or so.i replaced inner and outer rear arches,(non)fluted panels,passenger side front floor pan and chassis leg.The drivers door was replaced with a mint one I bought that was from Arizona.All the suspension was removed,cleaned,painted and rebushed.All brake hydraulics replaced,all clutch hydraulics replaced.
It was repainted in two pack paint with 3 coats of primer and and I don't know how many top coats.It was done by some local guys who do a lot of classic stuff,so has been done well.With me doing most of the prep work and at mates rates the paint job was £2600. All new window channels and seals were used on the rebuild,along with a lot of new stainless fastners etc.The water pump replaced and the radiator reconned.The bill for parts came to over £2800.
Joe said he wanted lowering springs ,so those were fitted (£440)which meant doing a full realignment(as I said to Joe at the time "I will try to make it handle well despite the lowing springs and the 7" rims and 40 profile tyres).I initially asked for 8.5 kfor the car when finished,but was beaten down to 7k by Joe.I stopped keeping count of my hours put into the car at about 220.which was about half way through the refitting process.Stupidly I kept my word and sold him the car as promised.I should have just told him to go away and I would have put the car on the open market and no doubt got my 8.5 for it.He did have a few issues with the car when he first got it,but as I said to him at the time he hasn't given me any time to run the car myself to sort out any teething troubles.He later got in touch to say the exhaust systemwas holed,.i guess it must have been rusting through from the inside in storage.Stupidly I gave him back £250 (the price of a new simons system)as goodwill!
Make what you will from this episode,I know it has left me feeling pretty demoralised,demotivated,and very unlikely to do any further work for anybody in the VOC (except for 2 friends..You know who you are).I shall be putting a further post on the general area of the amazon section regarding the situation.

[123GT-AMAZON]

Thankyou David for the extra info i do hope this helps people ease off for the comments on selling a car like this for profit its a hard game to be in restoring these cars its much easier if the customer has a goal and a realistic budget to work within , you like a few of us david knows full well what it takes to do a car to a good standard like this one you have done a lovely job on the car dont let it steer you away from doing them in the future we need more guys like us to make sure there future is secure and good owners even folk buying one locate solid examples may they live on after us in the next life

come on peeps there must be a person out there wanting a very nice example snap it up if that helps , the car is not far from me i am willing to view the car for them free of charge and give my full report to any non time wasters plus i get to meet joe in person feel free to contact me if this is of any help

the only niggly points i can see from images is the dashtop and i would have to change the color of interior if that was my car but thats just my personal view it does not mean in any way that should put people off the dashpad is a easy fix and seats for me is just the color is all black with a red carpet set would finish that car off a treat all non bank breaking if done the right way.

kind regards

robert

[Joseph Wright]

Hi all, this will be the last post I make regarding my car. Having read Daves post there are obviously differences of opinion and I could write an essay on my experience and the details of the sale. Much of what I have read is simply untrue or has been misinterperated by us both. The suggestion I beat anyone down is total nonsense. It's a shame it has come to this and unbelievable. If I read anymore comments that are untrue ill ask the administrator to remove them. It doesn't seem fair that when all I am trying to do is sell a good car my advert is subject to false accusations that I can't answer straight away as I haven't seen them. I can provide evidence for all of my points and evidence that some things that have been said are incorrect.
I'm too busy and too mature to get into an argument about it all and to be honest I have far more important things to think about on a daily basis.
The fact remains that I have a lovely car for sale.
I have never ever had to justify selling my car to the previous owner before and expect I will never have to again. If someone buys the car off of me and sells it on for a profit the next day well then good luck to them. Looking at how the world goes round especially when it comes to vehicles many people buy them, spend money on them and then sell them on to try and cover their costs. The nature of the business is that people often buy cars and then make a lot of money on them ( not in my case). I fail to see any problem in that. I fully appreciate and respect people who restore cars and have the skill to do them up, i'm also a realist and throughout my life and the cars I have owned, like everyone, I have spent a hell of a lot on cars for the love of them and never made anything back.
I have explained my reasons for selling the car. I didn't want to and quite frankly it's ludicrous that i've had to justify my reasons and answer various untrue and unjust comments made on my for sale post.
All the best everyone, a rather stunned Joe

[Groundes-Peace]

Good luck to all involved on the sale of what looks to be a lovely Amazon Estate.
It is a reality that the acquiring buyer of a fully restored car is likely to pay less than the "full cost" of the original (somewhat tatty -or worse) car that has had a series of improvements made to get it to be a good looking and driving classic.
Hoping this classic Volvo will sell well to someone who wants to keep it, to enjoy to the full. Happy motoring!

[Kustom120]

Hi all as a foot note to this saga ,one of my best pals has just bought this car and is as happy as a dog with 2 tails,.
I had a drive in her tonight and as a past Amazon owner and dad to a amazon owner( young Andrew)can say a thank you to Joe and David for a lovely car.
I am sorry to read about the comings and goings about the car but can say it has went to a good home and I know Jason cant stop driving her and cant wait to make her is own,with his own personal touches .
So all has ended well Many thanks Andy

PS Andrews car is coming on great guns and hopefully will be out next year

[davidw6092]

Is it still on those torquethrusts and 40 profile tyres?It will drive a whole load nicer on something more appropriate,it used to handle beautifully on semi worn snow tyres and a good load in the back.having driven it as a service car from liege to Sofia and back,Liege to Istanbul and back,round Ireland and to Monte carlo and back,I have an idea of how well it goes.Good Luck to the new owner,I hope he enjoys driving it as much as I did.Dave

[Kustom120]

Thanks Dave,I will ask Jason the new owner if I can post some pics soon
,Can I ask you any History on the engine.
What spec is it? ie has it been rebuilt,what cam is in it or any modifications have been done to it?
Any other info would be great Thanks Andy

[davidw6092]

As far as I know it was from a 123 gt,low mileage car.Bottom end is as factory,and the head was ported by Jondel Racing engines.Hope this helps Dave